New Winds, Old Skies (Closed)

A new apprentice. Nectarleap hadn't had one since Shadefall. While that thought made grief burn in his mind, he did his best to push it out and ignore it. For too long he had been focused on his own problems when instead he should have been paying attention to others. By now, he had usually gotten the first day of training thing down, but Ploverpaw was a special case. The tom had already had his first day of training in SkyClan, and already knew the basics of hunting and fighting. What he didn't know was how to navigate the moor, or the proper rabbit hunting technique. Most importantly, the apprentice had to learn to be loyal to his new clan. Any preference to SkyClan had to be gotten rid of, no matter how sad that seemed. The warrior had never really approved of clan switching for that reason, but now he had no choice but to deal with it. Sighing, he picked out two rabbits from the prey pile, glad there was enough for him to get a meal. In Leafbare, he had gone a few mornings without breakfast. Now what should be normal felt luxurious. Padding over into the apprentice sleeping area, he quickly made out the sleeping form of the fluffy young tom. 
"Ploverpaw, it's time for training," Nectarleap whispered, gently prodding Ploverpaw's side with his paw. Stepping back into the center of camp, he waited for the new WindClan apprentice to join him. Beginning to eat his rabbit, he took his time on his meal. In a life full of such depressing events, savoring the taste of fresh-kill was something he was glad for. Now soon his new apprentice would join him, and he could teach him about what it was like to be a member of WindClan.

Ploverpaw felt the prod of the warrior. He stirred and stood up with a stretch. He didn't get much sleep last night. The transition was hard. Getting used to everything was going to be hard but it didn't feel unnatural. It wasn't like he hated it, that wasn't the case one bit. He just had to get used to it. He made sure to shake out his fluffy fur of moss pieces before padding over to his new mentor. Nectarleap.. It was going to take some time to get used to the name, and the scents around here. He could feel his chest tighten a little bit. He did miss the others back in Skyclan, his sister especially but there were many new chances here that didn't make him regret his choice that much. "I'm ready." He said.

"Okay then. Good morning! Here's a rabbit to eat, and we'll get started once you have finished your meal," Nectarleap explained, offering Ploverpaw a friendly smile. Oh, this felt so fake. All of this was just a cover over how he actually felt. And he wasn't sure if it was for the apprentice's sake or his own. Mentoring had always brought him joy, and he wanted so much for this to make him happy enough to forget about his grief for a day or two. To just enjoy doing what he loved. Without Sootpaw alive to see it. Or Stormcloud. Or Rosepaw. Shaking thoughts of his former apprentices from his head, he decided to explain his plan to the young tom before they left. For a moment he wondered if he would be confused by what he was saying because he was from SkyClan, but reassured himself that all clans knew what all basic words meant. f course they did, they were all cats. As much as this didn't feel normal, he had to treat his apprentice that way. "If you were a regular apprentice, I would probably take you hunting first. But because you just switched clans, I think it would be better to give you a tour of the territory and explain things about WindClan first."

Ploverpaw could tell that Nectarleap was faking a lot of his cheeriness but he didn't mind. The older apprentice took the rabbit and started eating at it listening to the warrior silently. He didn't mind the taste of rabbit at all. He knew that he would have to relearn a lot of things and get used to Windclan's ways. On the inside he wished there was someway he could be both in Skyclan and Windclan but he knew it wasn't possible at all. Ploverpaw didn't want to eat a whole lot but he didn't want the rabbit to go to waste so he finished it.

Once he finished his food he stood and looked up at Nectarleap. "Alright now I'm ready to go." Unless there was something else that he needed to do. If there was something else he needed then Windclan was certainly weird.

"Great, let's get going," Nectarleap replied, still trying his best to find happiness from all of this. It should give him some joy, as teaching had always done for him, but now he just felt nervous that he would fail again. That nothing he did would be enough. Especially for Ploverpaw. Though he didn't want to judge the apprentice based on the clan he was born in, it was hard not to. This cat had come from a rival clan, and though he was now loyal to this one, it would probably be hard to break him from his former beliefs. Now WindClan had to come first, always. Padding out of camp, he let the young tom absorb his urroundings. While he knew this wasn't the first time the apprentice had seen WindClan territory, looking around would still be helpful. Hopefully by the end of the day he would be able to appreciate the beauty of the moor better. The way the sun illuminated the vast fields and how the soft breeze ruffled the green grass always managed to bring of a bit of light into his usually dark life, so he let himself smile. All cats deserved to feel like this sometime. Picking up the pace to a steady trot, he began heading in the direction of the barn. That would be the first stop on their tour. In the mean time, he might as well ask some questions. "Don't you find the moor so beautiful? I'm not usually someone who looks out for those sort of things, but I've always managed to notice. Especially when you are running. How fast can you run, by the way? You need to be pretty fast in WindClan."

Ploverpaw followed silently behind Nectarleap taking in the bits of territory he hadn't seen before. It was vastly different.. He could see the beauty in the land, the way it rolled, the way the sun hit the wavy grass as it swayed in the wind. He could understand it. He appreciated it and loved it himself, but there was that part of him that loved the trees. Seeing the light filter through the leaves and light patches of ground. How the sun seemed to dance as the wind moved the trees. Oh how he wished he could have both of these things in one spot.. That is where he would be truly happy, but such a thing didn't exist.

Once Nectarleap spoke, Ploverpaw broke his train of thought. "Yes I do find the moor beautiful." The apprentice said. He always had a tendency of speaking politely even if was with someone he knew well. "I do not know how fast I am. I kept up with a rabbit once in Skyclan territory but I could not catch it." He informed his mentor. His tone staying relatively the same.

"That's good. Soon you'll be able to catch rabbits easily. I'm sure of it," Nectarleap assured, glad that Ploverpaw had even just a little prior experience with chasing rabbits. Besides, he had WindClan blood in him. Natural talent wasn't something he should have to worry about at all. Before long, a thin line of trees was visible, marking the border between the wild moor and the old barn. It wasn't WindClan territory and was mostly inhabited by rogues, only coming to interest when some dangerous cat was living there. Still, it was a border that had to be marked, and so somewhere that new apprentices had to learn about. Especially one who hadn't grown up on stories about these sort of places. Turning to the former SkyClanner, he stopped when they reached the small trees that marked the border. "This marks the border between WindClan territory and the Abandon Barn, a place owned by rogues. These trees mark the border. It really isn't the most significant place, but it's still important to know. Many dangerous rogues used to live here, but thanks to WindClan, only the more peaceful ones reside there now. We're going to mark the border before continuing on the tour. Any questions?"
Ad Nectarleap quickly marked the trees, he realized how dramatic one of his sentences sounded. Wondering where that sort of wording came from, he realized it was from stories he had been told his entire life. And now he was passing it down to a new member of the clan. While it mainly just showed how influential growing up in this clan had been for him, it also made him smile to know that he was taking part in passing down stories.

The barn? A line of trees? Seems like he wouldn't be too useless for these first couple of day until he learned to hunt rabbits properly. Sure there were Rogues around but that wasn't a big issue. As long as what Necterleap said about the bad ones being chased off was true.  "Do we hunt over by this line of trees?" If they didn't hunt by them too often he was sure he could find a few good pieces of prey when he needed to hunt. The gray and white apprentice moved forward marking a spot himself. He knew how to mark borders from his time in Skyclan. He just hoped the amount of time he spent with his mom and inside camp was good enough to make him smell like a Windclan cat. He didn't want to mess up borders.

"Um, not really. The trees serve as more of a border rather than a food source. Rabbits and hares are way more common in the wider parts of the moor anyway, and the only birds we really hunt are the ground-dwellers. I've never really seen anyone hunting in this area before," Nectarleap explained, for the first time realizing that he could just make assumptions about how Ploverpaw would react to what he said. Of course a SkyClanner would assume that trees were always used for hunting. Hopefully in just a few days he could get him into the mindset of hares and rabbits being their main food source. For some reason, he didn't want to dwell on the topic of tree hunting. It seemed to personal to the young tom, and he didn't want to say anything offensive by accident. Failing apprentices was a horrible feeling, and he didn't want that to happen in any way. Especially when Brindlestar had trusted him with this. Assuming his apprentice didn't have anymore questions, he turned from the barn's direction and began trotting in the direction of the Thunderpath, beckoning with his tail for the black tom to follow.
"We might as well exercise your speed today, because you'll need it for hunting. I'm going to run my fastest to our next stop, and I want you to do your best to keep up. Got it?" After Nectarleap had finished speaking, he broke nodded at Ploverpaw, waiting a moment before breaking out into a full sprint, zooming at full speed towards the Thunderpath. While he didn't wait too long, he wanted a few seconds for his words to sink in before he began. Now he just had to see how fast this apprentice was.

Ploverpaw observed the trees for a little bit longer. Well thats somewhere he could hunt for the first couple of days until he managed to catch a rabbit and get good at it. Ploverpaw turned away, guilt eating at his stomach a bit. Turning his back on the trees felt wrong, but he knew that Windclan is his home now.. This was hard. He let out a small sigh before turning his attention back on Nectarleap fully. Oh running? He opened his mouth to speak up, he wasn't exactly sure where the next stop was. Annndd his mentor was already gone..

Ploverpaw felt a small amount of panic rise. The gray and white tom took off after his mentor. The shape of Nectarleap getting a bit smaller as they moved through the territory, but Ploverpaw kept him in sight. He didn't want to get lost. He wasn't that fast.. not yet.. Finally he saw his mentor stop. It took a couple more seconds for the small apprentice to catch up fully with Nectarleap. The tom panting heavily as he got to the destination.

"Sorry if I went a bit fast there. You did manage to keep up pretty well though. With a little more training you'll be catching rabbits in no time," Nectarleap said between pants. While he was a bits short of breath, Ploverpaw looked even more so. He probably wasn't at all used to having to run so fast in SkyClan. For a moment, he considered what it would have been like if this tom had grown up in WindClan. How different this first day of training would have been. But there was no use wishing for something in the past to have changed. That was something it had taken him a long time to learn, and sometimes still even found himself wistfully thinking of how one tiny change in his actions and one of his loved ones would still be alive. Either way, here he was, standing next to the Thunderpath with his apprentice, giving him a tour of the territory. After recovering his breath, he began explaining. "Here is the Thunderpath. There must have been one near SkyClan, or you've at least heard about it. Monsters with Twolegs in their bellies travel here, zooming way faster than any cat ever could, making thunderous roars and leaving behind acrid scents. One hit from one could kill a cat, but they always stay on the path. It marks the end of WindClan territory. On the other side is Highstones. If you look over the rocks and bushes, you can see the hill which it's on. And if you look very carefully, you can probably convice yourself that you see Mothermouth. Inside is the Moonstone, where medicine cats go to speak with StarClan, and where apprentice's go once in their training to get words of advice from our ancestors. Leaders also get their nine lives there. It isn't owned by WindClan, and the only reason we are ever allowed to go there is for one of the reasons I just said. Any questions about the Thunderpath or Highstones?"